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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Edwin Landseer
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(1802–73, kt 1850) The leading animal painter of the 19C, with a tendency to make his animals perform. He is at his best when the drama is one of natural savagery, as in Man Proposes, God Disposes (1864, Royal Holloway College), inspired by the disaster of *Franklin's expedition to the Arctic and showing two polar bears tearing at the wreck of a sailing ship. Less satisfactory are the coy scenarios such as Dignity and Impudence (1839, Tate Gallery), with a bloodhound and a tiny terrier sharing a kennel. His best-known image is Monarch of the Glen (1851), in which a magnificent stag poses like a tragic actor. Painted for the refreshment room of the House of Lords, it is now owned by John Dewar and Sons, makers of whisky. In the last years of his life he sculpted the great lions at the base of *Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square.
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